This week's featured stories

  • Nebraska LEAD Class 42 Fellows celebrate their graduation after completing the two-year leadership development program. With their completion, the Nebraska LEAD Program now boasts more than 1,200 alumni dedicated to strengthening Nebraska’s agricultural industry and rural communities.
    Nebraska LEAD Class 42 Fellows celebrate their graduation after completing the two-year leadership development program. With their completion, the Nebraska LEAD Program now boasts more than 1,200 alumni dedicated to strengthening Nebraska’s agricultural industry and rural communities.
  • Aurora senior Roe Patton sets a new school record
    Aurora senior Roe Patton sets a new school record
  • Sandy (center left), played by Grayce Gustafson, Patrick, played by Jacob Inman, and SpongeBob, played by Eva Yllescas scream in terror with the rest of citizens of Bikini Bottom when they discover that Mt. Humongous is set to erupt and destroy the town.
    Sandy (center left), played by Grayce Gustafson, Patrick, played by Jacob Inman, and SpongeBob, played by Eva Yllescas scream in terror with the rest of citizens of Bikini Bottom when they discover that Mt. Humongous is set to erupt and destroy the town.
  • After competing at the NSAA State Speech competition in Kearney on Friday, the Giltner speech team placed fourth overall in Class D2 with 64 points and won four medals. Pictured from left are speech coach Cacia Barnes, Owen Nuss, Ayden Scott, Sophie Faltys, Gracie Kreutz, Eliana Bish, Avery Reeson and assistant speech coach Jenna Hermann.
    After competing at the NSAA State Speech competition in Kearney on Friday, the Giltner speech team placed fourth overall in Class D2 with 64 points and won four medals. Pictured from left are speech coach Cacia Barnes, Owen Nuss, Ayden Scott, Sophie Faltys, Gracie Kreutz, Eliana Bish, Avery Reeson and assistant speech coach Jenna Hermann.
  • Jason Roe stands in front of the Roe Chevrolet dealership in downtown Aurora, where plans have been announced to expand the service department.
    Jason Roe stands in front of the Roe Chevrolet dealership in downtown Aurora, where plans have been announced to expand the service department.
  • The Aurora Meat Block brought home eight honors from the Nebraska Association of Meat Processors convention in Kearney. Pictured from left are co-owners Andrea and Brent Winfield, Josh Dick and Ed Van Landingham.
    The Aurora Meat Block brought home eight honors from the Nebraska Association of Meat Processors convention in Kearney. Pictured from left are co-owners Andrea and Brent Winfield, Josh Dick and Ed Van Landingham.

    “It’s a little bit of a time commitment, but it’s 100 percent worth it; it’s good!” That’s how Aurora agronomist Matt Oswald sums up the last two years he spent as a member of UNL’s Nebraska LEAD program. Oswald is one of the 29 Fellows of Class 42 of the leadership development program sponsored by the Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council and the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at UNL. Read the story of Oswald's journey with LEAD in this week's ANR Ag Life pages which begin on Page A9.
     

    Aurora senior Roe Patton set a new school record during Friday’s Husky Invite, clearing 15-6 in the pole vault. The mark eclipses the previous school record set by Beau Simmons 15 years ago at 15-2. Check out the story of Patton's accomplishment and find all the latest high school sports news on Pages B1, 5-7 of this week's ANR.

    The Aurora High School musical cast and crew gave it their all with their production of SpongeBob the Musical last week. Having gone through the ups and downs of missing rehearsal time, cast members such as Jacob Inman, who plays Patrick Star, were thrilled to finally perform in front of a live audience. Get the reactions from the production's directors, the  actors to this year's spring musical. The story starts on Page A1 of this week's paper.

    Giltner senior Sophie Faltys won the Class D2 state title in Persuasive Speech and placed fourth in Informative at the Class D2 NSAA State Speech competition on Friday. As a team Giltner competed in five different events and won fourth place in its class. Meanwhile, the High Plains speech team finished third as a team at the Class D1 on Friday. Every competitor for HPC earned a state medal  with seven finalist categories. The Aurora Huskies speech team finished in 11th place as a team in their class with four participants and Hampton Hawks speech participants Lofton Ferguson and Macy Miller both placed in their events at the state speech contest. Miller took 5th place in Extemporaneous Speaking and Ferguson was 6th in Persuasive Speaking.

    Roe Chevrolet announced this week to customers and community members in Aurora and Grand Island pending changes with the dealerships. Jason Roe, president of Roe Chevrolet and Roe Automotive, Inc., explained that new Buick vehicles will no longer be available at the Grand Island location. Roe also announced that changes are pending at the Aurora dealership, where plans are being made to expand the service department.

    The Aurora Meat Block was recognized as one of the state’s top meat lockers this weekend, earning eight awards at the annual convention of the Nebraska Association of Meat Processors in Kearney. “We were really excited of how we did and proud of our staff,” said Brent Winfield, who purchased the local business with his wife, Andrea, in 2014. “The things that we entered are what we sell.”

    Get all the details on these stories and much more in the print or e-edition of this week's News-Register on your news stand now.